It was a weekend in which we enjoyed international rugby league as well as domestic... or at least some of us did.

England turned in an impressive display to beat Samoa in Sydney on Saturday morning, giving the sport some much-needed positive column inches after the RFL's decision to stream the game through their website for a £3.49 fee, rather than accept the BBC's offer to screen it live on television.

On these shores, Castleford retained their position at the top of Super League with a hard-fought win over Huddersfield and Leeds beat Catalans in the south of France to send their travelling fans home happy.

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1. A salute to England... not the RFL

Stefan Ratchford impressed for England (Image: Getty Images AsiaPac)

This should kick off with a salute to Wayne Bennett’s England side for seeing off Samoa 30-10.

We could analyse the team’s stars and structures in their only warm-up game before the World Cup kicks off in October. But I’m unable to do so because the much-criticised live stream of the game I paid for didn’t work.

I can salute Ryan Hall for opening the scoring but after eight minutes my feed started to stutter and after 11 minutes I was left staring at a frozen screen.

The RFL elected to make people pay to watch the game on their own website after snubbing an offer from the BBC, a ludicrous short-sighted move which robbed the game of potentially hundreds of thousands of viewers.

And for those that did there were always potential technical pitfalls. The picture quality was poor enough as it was before my coverage started stopping and starting.

As I write I’m awaiting a refund and more importantly some viewing figures to try to justify the folly. Supporters of the move say this is the future.

When I’m flying my hovercar to work, I’ll believe that. For now let’s stick with international games on that old fashioned screen in the corner of the room.

2. Robot McMeeken stars in Sydney

McMeeken made his England debut in Sydney (Image: Rex Features)

Staines Titans sound like a hardcore cleaning product to sort out a rotting pair of undercrackers. It is of course the club where England forward Mike McMeeken started his junior rugby league.

Refreshing to see someone from outside the game’s heartlands make his debut against Samoa but the 24-year-old has been a TV regular for years. McMeeken is one of the robots that open the coverage for every Sky game.

That footage was done at London’s Pinewood Studios back in 2011 when McMeeken was a centre at Harlequins RL, wearing a CGI suit. He’s the one that scores the try in the corner.

3. Video refe... zzzzzzz

The video ref was called upon on three occasions in Warrington (Image: PA)

You could boil an egg, boil the kettle or boil your sodding brain waiting for some video referee decisions. We were left twiddling our thumbs for six full minutes for just three calls in Warrington’s 40-18 win over St Helens.

When Tom Lineham was held up by three Saints defenders it took video ref Ben Thaler three minutes, 18 seconds to finally reach a decision.

NRL’s bunker is far quicker and Super League must up its game to match it before the sport’s groundbreaking innovation becomes too tedious to stomach.

4. Mamo proving his worth

Mamo scored a hat-trick for Huddersfield (Image: PhotoEye.co.uk)

It should be no surprise that full-back Jake Mamo is proving a smart signing for Huddersfield. His hat-trick against Castleford took his tally to six tries from his last four games.

Mamo was handed his debut at Newcastle Knights by England coach Wayne Bennett after a stand-out career in the NRL’s under-20 competition and the Junior Kangaroos.

What Super League fans are yet to truly appreciate is just how fast he is. Mamo was leading try scorer in the 2015 Auckland Nines on the wing for the Knights and is an absolute flier.

His tries have come from smart work close to the whitewash but hold on for something more spectacular down the line.

5. Aussies looking ominous

There’s a scene in Groundhog Day when weatherman Phil Connor punches Ned Ryerson in the face to break the repetitive nature of his day.

Maybe England and New Zealand should employ Bill Murray to deck Kangaroos skipper Cameron Smith at the beginning of every game because playing that ruthless green and gold machine is becoming all too familiar.

Teams apply pressure, get frustrated, concede try - repeat. Australia comfortably cruised past the Kiwis 30-12 on Friday and already the thought of them lifting the World Cup in November looks depressingly predictable.

6. When Wigan met the PM

A youthful Wigan side were beaten by Salford (Image: PA)

New book out on Wigan’s all-conquering team may bring a smile to the faces of those fans still smarting after their youthful, injury-ravaged side crashed 31-16 to Salford.

Simply The Best by Frank Malley charts the story of the club winning eight Challenge Cups on the bounce from 1988 to 1995.

It contains many anecdotes from all-time greats and according to one review “the author reminds us of the well-known story of a nude Billy McGinty turning prime minister John Major off pineapple in the Wembley dressing room in 1992.”

Hope that doesn’t put anyone off their pudding.

7. Toronto make winning start in Canada

The Wolfpack have landed in Toronto

The Canadian Broadcasting Association got suitably excited as Toronto managed their first win on home soil with a 62-12 thumping of Oxford.

On their website reporter Neil Davidson gushed: “An enthusiastic crowd, announced at 6,281, saw 14 tries, three red cards and two yellows in a game that featured several punch-ups resembling old-time hockey line brawls.”

That’s ice hockey to us Brits and any comparison with the country’s beloved if bewildering sport can only be a good thing.